Submitted
by
another random user
on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @12:09PM

another random user writes: A US team aims to build a robot that can work out how to use nearby objects to solve problems or escape threats.

The machine has been dubbed a MacGyver Bot, after the TV character who cobbled together devices to escape life-threatening situations.

The challenge is to develop software that "understands" what objects are in order to deduce how they can be used.

The US Navy is funding the project and says the machines might ultimately be deployed alongside humans. It is providing $900,000 to robotics researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology to carry out the work.